Improvement in horse-rakes



N. C. DECKER.

Horse Rake.

Patented Sept. 18, 18 66.

InmFY Z 95% UNITED STATES. PATENT FFIGE.

NICHOLAS O. DECKER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,073, dated September18, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NicHoLAs O. DECKER, of the city and county of St.Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and usefulImprovement; in Sulky Hay-Rakes; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and clear description thereof, reference being badto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a plan of the improved rake. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal verticalsection taken on the line as g in Fig. 1.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my improved rake, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is a horizontal frame, to which the thills a are attached, and whichis the general supporting-frame of the machine. 011 each end of thisframe there is a vertical post, B, as clearly shown. in Fig. 2. Theupper ends of these posts extend above the frame A and furnish bearingsfor the rock-shaft O, and the lower ends extend below the said framenearly to the ground and furnish bearings for the rake-head D. There areshort arms attached to each of the posts B, and, projecting outwardtherefrom, receive the wheels E, on which the machine is mounted.

The frame A is surmounted by the drivers seat S, immediately below whichis a foot-lever, 0, connected with the rock-shaft (J, and used for thepurpose of operating it. There are two curved levers, 0, attached to therockshat't, and projecting downward in the rear of it. The lower ends ofthese levers are connected together by a longitudinal bar, 0 which, whenthe machine is in operation, will rest on the tops of the backrake-teeth, d, and thereby prevent the rake from turning over, except itis temporarily withdrawn from the teeth, as hereinafter described.

The two springs c are attached to the rock-shaft permanently, whiletheir back ends are secured to the frame A in such a manner as to allowa slight rotary motion to the said rock-shaft, and also to hold it in acertain position when left free to its own action. There are also twosprings, 0 pivoted to the posts 13 at 0 and extending downward, so thattheir lower ends strike lugs projecting from the rake'head near itsends.

The springs c are of peculiar construction, having a square elbow at c,as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The upper ends of them are are con nected bymeans of links 0" with the springs 0 so that the two springs areoperated simul' taneously.

There are journals on the ends of the head D, which find their bearin gsin the segmental. grooves Z in the post B.

The general construction of the rake-head D and its teeth (1 is similarto that of most other revolving horse hay-rakes.

The operation of the rake thus constructed is as follows: The driver,being seated on his seat S, places one of his feet on the lever 0. Atthe commencement of the raking opera tion the teeth (I are in nearly ahorizontal position, the forward ends of them are slightly depressed,and the back ends of them resting under the bar 0 The springs 0 press onthe tops of the lugs of the head D, (before mentioned, but not shown.and hold the rake in this position. As the forward ends of therake-teeth are slightly depressed, they are in a proper position to rununder the hay and gather it up into a load on the top of the rake. Whena suficient quantity has been gathered and the driver desires to dropit, he will press with his foot on the lever c, and thereby release thebar 0 from the top of the teeth by moving it backward. The same motionof the lever c and rock-shaft G that releases the bar 0 will act uponthe spring 0, which will thereby press down on the aforesaid lugs andcause the rake to upset by the forward ends of the teeth striking theground, and thus tripping the rake, as soon as the bar 0 has been drawnback, as shown by the red lines in Fig. 2, sufficiently to allow theends of the teeth to pass above the bar. As soon as the back rake-teethhave passed above the bar 0 the driver will release his pressure uponthe lever 0, when the springs a will cause the rockshaft 0 and itsappendages c and c to assume their original position.

The grooves b, in which the bearings of the head D rise, are made in asegmental form, as shown, because experience has proven that theoperation of them in that form of groove is easier than it would be in astraight vertical groove.

Having described my invention, what I b in the post B, for the purposeof rendering claim iseasy the revolution of the rake.

1. The construction and arrangementof the 1 rock-shaft G and its springs0 and 0 its 1e- I NICHOLAS DPJCKER' vers c and c, and the bar 0 asdescribed and I Witnesses: set forth.

2. Thearrangementof thesegmental grooves .GHAs. H. BOYLE, M. RANDOLPH.

